So long and welcome
Kennametal Employees Federal Credit Union closed its doors today, Halloween 2014, for good. Kennametal was one of the oldest credit unions in town and held the second most assets. It was approximately one million dollars larger than our credit union. The building will reopen Monday, November 3 as a branch office of Clearview Federal Credit Union, a $900 million plus asset credit union which is headquartered in Moon Township. Clearview Federal Credit Union is approximately three times the size of Commercial Bank and Trust of PA.
The merger of Kennametal with Clearview is not the first merger of credit unions that the area has seen. It certainly won’t be the last. At least twenty-seven credit unions have gone out of business in Pennsylvania in the past twelve months. The reasons credit unions choose to merge vary but one common theme is an increased cost of doing business in a highly competitive market that is becoming more and more technological. It has also been difficult for many credit unions to attract volunteers to serve on boards of directors, credit committees and supervisory committees. The Great Recession of 2008 has made it difficult for many credit unions to generate revenue to pay its bills and offer new technologies and services.
While our credit union has seen a decrease in lobby traffic and has experienced many of the same challenges that have caused other credit unions to pursue the merger route, we continue to move forward. While we cannot guarantee that there isn’t a merger of our credit union in the future we will do all we can to stay competitive and continue offering the services you require. It is our hope to begin offering first mortgages to our membership beginning in 2015. We also hope to roll out a remote deposit program which will allow you to take a picture of your check with your cell phone and send it to us electronically for deposit into your account. We also hope to make enhancements to our mobile banking program.
The credit union landscape is changing in Latrobe. So as we say farewell to an old friend in Kennametal Credit Union, we welcome Clearview Federal Credit Union to town. We promise to you, our members, that we will stay on our toes. We are here to serve you. Thank you for belonging!